hezbollah

The Clock Ticks on Lebanon's Empty Promises

One year on from Lebanon’s signing of the November 27, 2024 Cessation of Hostilities with Israel, Beirut’s agreement to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and disarm Hezbollah looks less like a commitment and more like theater. Lebanon has announced deadlines, staged symbolic troop deployments, and assured the world that Hezbollah’s ...

South Lebanon Ceasefire: One Year On, Life in Limbo

One year after the ceasefire, south Lebanon remains a land fraught with tension. Even when the strikes seem to ease, the shadow of war lingers. Israel’s sporadic bombardments never truly stop, and each moment of calm feels like a brief pause in an invisible countdown. Life here is fragile, shaping a population caught between the urgent need ...

Is Peace Now Possible Amid Collapse of Iran’s Imperialism?

The epilogue of the cascading wars that have taken place since October 7, 2023, was quite promising since the destruction of Iran’s regional proxy network was a good omen. For the first time, the region was able to imagine the possibility of extracting itself from the tight clasp of Iranian Shiite imperialism. Nonetheless, however bright the ...

Who Was Haitham Tabatabai, the Hezbollah No. 2 Targeted by Israel?

Born in Lebanon in 1968, Haitham Ali Tabatabai, also known as Abu Ali, is believed to be of an Iranian father and a Lebanese mother. He reportedly grew up in southern Lebanon and joined Hezbollah at a young age. A former commander of the Radwan Force, Hezbollah’s elite unit, Tabatabai operated in both Syria and Yemen, where he provided ...

Israel Eliminates Hezbollah's "Number Two" in Beirut Southern Suburb Airstrike

The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it carried out a precise raid, killing Hezbollah “number two” operative in the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to al-Hadath. The initial toll stands at five dead and 28 wounded in the attack, according to a statement from the Health Ministry’s Emergency Operations Center. According to Israeli ...

President Joseph Aoun Condemns Israel Airstrike on Beirut

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned Israel’s airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, noting that the attack happened the day following Lebanon’s Independence Day. President Aoun described it as “further proof that Israel disregards repeated calls to halt its assaults on Lebanon, refuses to implement international ...

President Aoun's Initiative Trapped Between Israel and Hezbollah

President Joseph Aoun is waiting for responses to his initiative, unveiled on the eve of Independence Day, fully aware that its outcome depends largely on two actors: Hezbollah and Israel. According to sources, Hezbollah has no intention of providing a clear response to the Lebanese presidency. The Iran-backed group remains determined to retain ...

Lebanon’s F&B Boom Masks Illicit-Economy Risks

Lebanon finds itself in a paradox. While its broader economy is collapsing, the food-and-beverage (F&B) sector is showing surprising vitality. It may look like a feel-good tale of resilience, but in fact it reveals one of the greatest structural threats to Lebanon’s recovery: a cash-based economy that undermines transparency, fuels illicit ...

New Israeli Strike on South Kills One

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed one person on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, in the latest attack on the area despite a nearly year-long ceasefire. In a statement, the ministry said that the Israeli strike on a vehicle in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, south Lebanon, killed one person. The ministry also said that a grenade ...

J. Aoun Announces a Five-Point Plan to Reassert State Authority and Open the Path to Peace

On the occasion of the 82nd anniversary of Lebanon’s Independence, President Joseph Aoun delivered a speech Friday evening from South Lebanon, focusing on sovereignty, the state’s exclusive control over arms, and the need to turn the page on “mini-states.” The head of state unveiled a five-point plan aimed at fully restoring state ...

Raggi Open to Negotiations With Israel

Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said Thursday evening that he was open to negotiations with Israel while urging Lebanese expatriates to quickly register on the platform for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Speaking on MTV’s Sar el-Waet program, Mr. Raggi said that if he were given a mandate by the government, he would be ready to enter ...

Netanyahu Says Hezbollah Threat Has Become “More Complex and Dangerous”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the threat posed by Hezbollah has “completely changed” since 7 October, noting that the security situation had “significantly shifted” in recent weeks. He warned that the Lebanese group now represents a “more complex and more dangerous” challenge for Israel. Netanyahu said Israel no ...